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First and foremost, yes, I'm very much a fan of the books, so this led me to a bit of concern when I heard it was being made into a TV series. Not that there isn't an absolute wealth of information crammed into Jim Butcher's amazing novels with which could make several glorious movies or TV shows, but all too often (as is the case with this series I'm afraid) the series is developed by business people... not fans of the material. The result is a less than half-hearted attempt at realizing Butcher's amazing series.

Now trust me, I was not gunning for this series to fail.. quite to the contrary I wanted to see it succeed in hopes that it might inspire others to check out JB's novels.

Harry Dresden is the kind of character you'd buy a beer for in a bar. He's just an interesting cat with a great sense of humor and sarcastic edge that would keep fascinating conversation going well until last call. The Dresden of the TV series you'd pass by and not even give a second thought to. He's as flat as the script paper he's created on.

You see far more development of the character as a kid than you ever did as an adult. And it's not the actor's fault (even though I do think Nathan Fillion of "Firefly" would've been a better fit for those who are familiar with the Harry from the books), but Paul Blackthorne is doing what he can with what he has. The written script however is where I find fault for not dipping into Butcher's bag of tricks enough to bring the wonderful universe of The Dresden Files to life.

What they got right: Bob. That's about it. The way they changed Bob for the series makes sense AND it works. Both in the way he's written and performed. And is it me, or did anyone else who read the books also imagine Bob with a British accent? It kind of surprised me to see that's how they created it in the show, so I guess I'm not the only one.

I do hold out hope that they will find a way to turn things around.. but I'm not left with an awful lot of confidence. The preview of episode two looks pretty lame.. "Murphy gets possessed".. eh.

The first episode should've been an absolute grand slam home run. It wasn't even a double.

I was disappointed and I'll give it one or two more shots.. but beyond that, I'll just be waiting for April when the next novel of the Harry Dresden series comes out.

Oh by the way, when I first had read comments the producer of the TV series had made about things they were changing for the TV show, I posted a note on Jim Butcher's website and just aired a few of my concerns. I actually did receive a response on the site from Jim Butcher and he was most unhappy with what I had to say. I thought this was a shame because I did and do want to see the show be a success.. but for now I'll bide my time and hope I won't be left with the empty fulfillment of an "I told you so."

*** Update *** Having now watched up through week 5 I can tell you I think they have improved. I'm surprised they still haven't gone as far into the depth of the books as they can. I don't know if that's cause they're saving story arcs for another season or they just don't want to spend the time on them yet.. but they could do more with this and I hope they do.

Paul Blackthorne has grown on me as Dresden.. with the first episode I felt he was OK but with the show's progression I think I like how Blackthorne is presenting Dresden. It's not exactly like the books, but not too distant either.

I still wouldn't say the show is great and to be honest I'm not even sure I'd be watching right now if it weren't called Dresden Files. But for now they have my attention.

If a film could actually set out to be one of the most horribly worst films ever made.. from technical, lighting, written, and acted.. boy oh boy they'd still never come as close to this corn-filled turd.

You could actually say that they "backed up the truck" of pure filth and poured it all over celluloid thus creating "The Wicker Man".

Ever sit on a wicker chair in the middle of summer for an extended period of time? Know how your skin starts to kind of stick to the wicker a bit and when you finally stand up you have a massive pain in your arse? Congratulations, you've just taken in a viewing of "The Wicker Man". I just saved you an hour and a half yet given you the same result.

Do yourself and future generations a favor and skip this flick.

I wouldn't say this is a home run for TNT, but as far as "made for TV" movies go (not counting the wonderful HBO ones) TNT does a really good job at remaking "'Salem's Lot".

The story, for those who don't know already, is one of the "evil comes to town" kinds of stories where vampirism is the new chic bubonic plague that begins to infest the town of "Jerusalem's Lot". Big bad vampire guy moves in (Rutger Hauer doing a bit of a serious spin on his old "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" role) and bad things start to happen.

Rutger's right hand man is Donald "Crazier every year you see him" Sutherland. The hero is the tragic character Ben Mears, played by Rob "Why did I leave West Wing again?" Lowe. Rob does a great job by the way which leads me to...

First, the acting. I really thought everyone did a great job all the way around. Complete with an, "Oh my god that really IS Samantha -Pump Up The Volume- Mathis!" Apparently the beautiful Mathis found time to jump out of the Witness Protection Program to turn up in this rendition of "Salem's" only moments before rapidly fading into obscurity once more. Rutger Hauer is an old fave of mine.. he's so good at being bad and I wish he could find better roles. James Cromwell... well what can I say about the guy who always makes me feel like he could be everyone's grandfather. Another stellar actor. I don't like quite what they do with his character and after you view it, if you want to know why I say that, email me and I'll let you know.

And Andre Braugher... god I love this guy. He's an amazing actor and I curse ABC for getting rid of "Gideon's Crossing". Braugher, you rule the earth, let it be known. I also don't like how they handle his character here either, again if you want to know why email me and I'll explain.

Total running time is 3 hours but with commercials it will probably be a total of 4 hours (2 hours each night I'm guessing). I think once you see it you might agree that they probably even cut out some other stuff in order to come in on time.. and that's a shame. I hope there might be a director's cut of this to come later because some things happen that are just flat out not explained. Pretty odd for a 3 hour long film where some issues are still not given explanation.. but ah well.

So the story... well it's not the book but it is, in its own right, a very good rendition with albeit a crappy ending. I think it's kind of a requirement that most (not all, but MOST, so no flames) anything related to Stephen King has an ending that sucks wind. BUT, the key here is creepiness. The box art to the DVD I have is very "Silent Hill"-ish.. for those familiar with the game series. And the movie has that feel too. It's very dark, very brooding and at times very creepy.

And let's hear it for TNT! They make vampires creepy again! Gone are the efforts to romanticize vampirism... no fops running around with a powdered face biting necks like a more annoying, invasive form of flatulence... no no, these vampires that infest the Lot are creepy vampires. This is not a SCARY show, but I bet you it will creep you out a bit here and there. It did for me.

All in all, nicely done TNT. I do applaud your efforts and despite some minor squabbles with it here and there I think you guys turned in a really good piece of work that you should be proud of. I give it a 7 out of 10. It's worth your time to catch once... but that'll probably be about it. My only recommendation to those who will view it is forget the book, understand that this is still a made for TV film.. and just try to enjoy it and you'll be fine.